Tape feeding and checking register



JQJMGB-EENWALT.- TAP-E F E EDING'AN'D CHECKING REGISTER.

" -APPLICATION FILED OCT 22,19I9.

.. 7 Patented Mar. 30-, 1920.

I A? 2 SHEETS SHEET6L I I 23 l HZ Go .5172 27 26 3 V34 T4 F 3 25 l u. 22.i $3.2

HIM

Win

mm. A

INN,

' lNVE/VTOR J ,4, Greenw 0/1.

ATTORNEV8 J. A. GREENWALT.

TAPE FEEDING AND CHECKING REGISTER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT 22, 1919.

Pammed Mar. 3%} 192% 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l/VVE/VTOR f d A. Gree/mm/f.

ATTORNEYS i TTNTT JESSE AUSTIN GREENWALT, OF GALVESTON, TEXAS.

TAPE'FEEDING AND CHECKING REGISTER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jnssn A. GREENWALT, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Galveston, in the county of Galveston and State ofTexas, have invented a new and Improved Tape Feeding and CheckingRegister, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

The present invention relates to a tapefeeding and checking register,and has reference more particularly to a device of this character inwhich successive characterized portions of a tape are exposed through anopening in the device, with means for checking or indicating theportions of the tape thus exposed.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a device with which atape, including numbers or other characterized features, may be checkedor compared to verify the correctness of the numbers, or othercharacterized features of the tape.

In its preferred embodiment, the invention finds expression in a devicewhich is specially adapted for comparing the numbers of adding-machinetapes to verify the same with the figures represented on the text fromwhich the figures were copied by the adding machine.

As heretofore practised in banking institutions and other establishmentswhere adding and calculating machines are employed, it has beencustomary to verify the figures copied on the machine tape with thetext, to check up mistakes. The method usually resorted to in comparingthese figure tapes was to have them proof read by one or two persons.This method, while satisfactory in so far as concerns the result of thecomparison, is impractical in that it requires either two persons timeor. an undue hardship on one person. According to the preferredembodiment of the present invention, the figures of the tape may beverified with the text by a single person and without imposing ahardship on the person.

The device is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure1 is a top plan view of the device;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4: is a longitudinal section on the line 4-4: of Fig. 1;

F 5 is a sectional view of the tape- Specification of Letters Patent.PgttpQntzgtl Mar. 3 1), 1920.

Application filed October 22, 1919.

Serial No. 332,384..

Referring now to the drawings in detail,

the device preferably embodies ,a relatively long casing 1 providing atape holder through which the tape A is longitudinally fed, the sameentering the casing or holder .through an opening ,2 in the slantingfront wall 3, from where it passes over a suitable platen 1 positionedadjacent the face or top 5 of the casing. The tape is passed over andfed through the holder by frictional contact with a rotatable roller 6located in the opposite end of the holder and over which the tape passesto the opening 7 in the slanting back 8 of the device. To insure properfrictional contact of the tape with the roller 6, a pairofoppositely-spaced friction-inducing rollers9 and 10 are supported overthe roller 6 and adapted to maintain the tape in contact with the roller6. These rollers are mounted, with freedom of rotation, on suitablespindles 11 and 12 which are, in turn, journaled in suitable bearings,the spaces between the bearings being bridged by strips 13. The frictionrollers are supported over the roller 6 by the levers 14 which arepivoted to the casing, as at 15, and to the strips, as at 16. Coilsprings 17 are connected to the levers 14: and to the casing to maintainthe friction rollers against the tape under tension.

To release the friction rollers from con- ,tact with the tape, a rockinglever 17 .is

pivoted to the casing, as at 18, and adapted to swing about its pivot tomanipulate the levers 14: to raise or lower the friction rollers. Thetape is fed through the holder in a step-by-step manner, to'which endthe roller 6 is provided with a co-axiallymounted ratchet 18, the teethof which are disposed at an angle to the axis of rotation of theratchet, whereby they mayreceive a suitable ratchet 19, which is pivotedas at 20, with a hooked end 21 disposed in a position to successfullyengage the ratchet teeth and rotate the roller. The manipulating meansfor the pawl comprises a lever 22, one end of which is pivoted, as at23, with a-pivot point also provided at the pivot 20 of the pawl 19. Aspring 24 connects the pawl with the lever 22, whereby the pawl may bemaintained adjacent the teeth of the ratchet, the spring also being usedto return the lever 22 to normal position after it has been presseddownwardly by its key 25. A suitable escapement 26 is provided for theratchet 18, comprising a pivoted lever having a spring tension formaintaining the roller carried by the end of the lever in the pocket ofone of the ratchet teeth, the roller being adapted, when the ratchet isrotated, to ride over the bevel face of the tooth and engage the nexttooth.

From the above it will be seen that by pressing the lever 22 downwardlyby its key 25, the pawl will be caused to engage one of the teeth of theratchet 18 and impart a downward thrust on the same, whereby the rollerwill be rotated one notch, and when thus rotated the tape will be fed ashort distance through the holder. Inasmuch as the preferredconstruction of the invention consists in using the device withadding-machine tapes, the ratio of the teeth on the ratchet 18, as wellas the throw of the pawl 19 and lever 22, should be such'as to feed thetape a distance in the holder of substantially that of the space betweenthe figures, upon one manipulation of the lever 22, which will bepresently described.

As previously stated, the tape is fed through the holder over the platen4 and between it to the top 5 of the casing 1. The platen is providedwith suitable guides for preventing lateral displacement of the taperelative to the platen; and the top 5 of the casing is provided withhinged covers 27 and 28, the covers being of a size substantially thatof the width of the tape and adapted to be swung on their respectivehinges 29 and 30 to expose a large area of the tape so that the same maybe properly adjusted relative to the platen, or for any other reason,when occasion should arise to observe that portion of the tape which isbeneath the cover. ,Provided between the covers 27 and 28 is an opening29' which extends transversely across the face of the cover 5 and is ofa length of substantially that of the height of one set of figures onthe tape, so that only one set of figures will be exposed through thisopening at a time. When, as previously stated, the key 25 on the lever22 is manipulated to rotate the roller 6, the tape will be fed throughthe holder, and the ratio of the ratchet teeth together with the throwof the pawl 19 and lever 22is such as to bring the sets of figures onthe tape successively into register with the opening 29. On oppositesides of the opening 29 are shutters 31 and 32, which. are hingedas'at33 and 34 so that the area of the opening 29 may be increased forobserving the sets of figures directly above and below the exposed setof figures. Both of these shutters are independently movable. Ifdesirable, the covers 27 and 28 may be either independently orcollectively movable, also, they may be slidably mounted to space theshutters 31 and 32 closer together or farther apart, to increase or todecrease the width of the opening 29.

As above stated, each throw of the lever 22 will expose a new set offigures through the opening 29, where they may be compared with thetext. Now, inasmuch as it is desirable to indicate on the tape thosesets of figures which have been compared or exposed through the opening29, and thus check the tape, a tape-contacting finger 34 is adapted tocooperate with the key 25 of the lever '22 for marking the tape adjacenteach set of figures thus exposed. This fin ger, in its preferred form,comprises a lever pivoted as at 35 and supported by a standard 36rotatably mounted in the'top 5 of the casing. One end of the lever,normally the end which contacts with the tape, is provided with 'apointed hammer 37 which,

when the finger is operated, will make an indentation on the tapeadjacent the set of figures exposed in the opening 29, thus indicatingthat this set of figures have been exposed through the opening andchecked. Instead of the hammer 37, any other tapecontacting means may beused which will make a satisfactory check mark. The opposite end of thelever is presented in the path of a dog 38 which is pivoted as at 39 inthe recess 40 of the key 25. Normally,

this dog projects from the recess 40, where it may have a wiping orcammmg contact with a tappet 41 of the lever and thus raise the hammer37 by rocking the lever about its pivot 35. The hammer 37 is returnedand brought into checking contact with the tape by the spring 42 whichis fixed at one end to the pivot 35 with its opposite end receivedbetween the confronting faces of the lips 43.

The operation of the machine is substantially as follows: The tape isinserted through the opening 2 and placed upon the platen 4, where it islined up and extended over the roller 6 and through the opening 7 at theopposite end of the device. The knob 44 on the spindle of the roller 6is then turned to. feed the tape until the first set of figures areexposed through the opening 29, whereupon. they are compared with thetext, and when thus compared, the key 25 is pressed down, tripping thechecking ham-,

mer 37, and when further pressed downward the next set of, figures onthe tape will be presented in the opening 29,. whereby they may becompared and checked by'the hammer 37 and thenext set exposed, etc.

Of course, the use of the idea is in no way limited to comparing thefigures of addingmachine tapes, but may be used to advantage in otherinstances where it is desirable to feed a tape through a holder and in.which the holder is provided with a registering opening for exposingsuccessive characterized portions of the tape where they may be observedand checked.

While the tape has been shown and. described as leaving the machinethrough the opening 7, it is, of course, understood that the same mayinstead feed over the roller 6 on the outside of the machine. This wouldappear desirable with a short tape. Then, again, instead of introducingthe tape in the machine through the opening 2, it may be fed in thereverse direction and introduced through either the opening 7 or underfriction-inducing roller 10 from the outside of the machine.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. In a machine of the class described, a tape holder having aregistering opening therein, means for feeding a tape through the holderwith successive portions thereof registering with said opening, andmeans c0- operating with the tape-feeding means for indicating theportions of the tape thus registered.

In a machine of the class described, a tape holder having a registeringopening therein, means for feeding a tape from one end of the machine tothe other with successive portions thereof registering with saidopening, and means cooperating with the tape-feeding means forindicating the portions of the tape thus registered.

3. In a machine of the class described, a

tape holder through which a tape is fed in a step-by-step manner, meansfor exposing successive characterized portions of the tape, and meansfor indicating on the tape the exposure of said portions.

4. In a machine of the character described and as set forth in claim 2,and in which the tape-feeding means comprises a rotatable platen withmeans for rotating the same in a step-by-step manner and in which themeans for indicating the registered portions of the tape is actuated bythe platen-rotating means, and comprising a pivoted tapecontacting leveradapted to normally lie in the path of the platen-rotating means.

5. A tape-feeding and checking register, comprising a tape holder havinga registering opening therein, a rotatable platen at one end of theholder, means for rotating said roller in a step-by-step manner forexposing successive portions of the tape through said opening,comprising a ratchet on the roller, a pawl for engaging the teeth ofsaid ratchet, a pivoted lever for actuating said pawl, and atape-contacting and inclicating device actuated by said pivoted leverand contacting with the tape exposed through said opening.

6. In a machine of the class described, a tape holder having means forfeeding the tape in a step by step manner, and means. for exposingsuccessive characterized portions of the tape, and means operated bysaid tape feeding means for indicating upon the tape the exposure ofsaid characterized portions of the tape.

JESSE AUSTIN GREENWALT.

